God loves us

 Nikki's email from March 9th!

"Sister Young and I!"

"belgium! we take trams pretty much everywhere and also walk a lot"

"the church building here!"

"it's just about spring!"

"a church in Antwerpen"

"Antwerpen Central Station"

"transfers!"

"The elders in this picture are Elder Carter and Elder Ames--they were in Zoetermeer with us. Elder Carter just went home this past week."

"At the station in Zoetermeer"

"all my stuff (minus my bike--it was just outside the station)

"my birthday from Zoetermeer!"

"the cake Mos made for my birthday!"

"Mos put up decorations :)"

"the elders and Wouter"

"A pretty church is Den Haag (close to where we had lunch after district meeting)"

Hallo from Belgium!

This week was a great week. I really miss the people in Zoetermeer--Zuster Faa, the members, our investigators--everyone. But I know that the Lord is taking care of them.

Monday night we had family home evening with Familie Rahman van Eeden and it was so fun--one of the little boys made a pictionary game for us to play. They're a great family--the mother, Misha, is the woman who knows Elizabeth Cheney.

We made a lot of calls to let people know I was being transferred (a lot of people asked us to), and it was hard but I really felt loved and happy about the relationships that I've been able to make is Zoetermeer. A lot of people wanted to meet with us before transfers, so we did our best but weren't able to have lessons with everyone. Sister Uljee had us over on Monday--she is so wonderful. 

Tuesday was great! We had a great district meeting then went to lunch with the whole district (a tradition for the last district meeting in the transfer). We met with Angela and she is doing really well--she really wants to know the truth. We also met with Jimmy and Jetti--they will hopefully start coming to church. Mos had us over for dinner and cake (he makes amazing chocolate cake). The Elders, Wouter and another member (Gunter) were there as well. Then we had a lesson with Lucie and her family, which was so good. After that we went to Rens and Veronica's for a quick goodbye and birthday cake (also delcious).

Wednesday was a bit crazy--it was pretty sad to say goodbye to Zuster Faa and everyone else--after lots of traveling, our group of missionaries got to Belgium! It's insane to travel with so much luggage and a bike on trains with other missioanries with all of their stuff as well. But we survived!! The handle pully thing on one of my suitcases broke off... My companion bought me a waffle right after we got in (she said I have to start off with just a plain one and then build up slowly). It was delicious!

The people here are wonderful and we're seeing lots of miracles. We met with a recent member, Agnes, who is from Africa. She has a beautiful testimony and was very kind. Cynthia is a new investigator, and when we met with her she was pretty down--she is in a hard situation right now, but we were able to help bring her comfort through our love and the gospel. She has a sweet eight year old girl who has special needs--she is a sweet girl.

We looked up a referral named Nathalie on Saturday night--it was such a cool experience. She is so open and prepared, and she loves talking about the gospel. She is an amazing mother and wants the best for her family.

Yesterday was a great day--lots of introductions--the members here are awesome. A woman walked in right before sacrament meeting and sat by us, and we found out after sacrament meeting that she has been investigating the church (while she lived in America and Japan) and just moved here last week. She found the church herself and wants to meet with us--her name is Anne and she is so awesome! We had dinner at Familie Shiltz--they have all 6 of us (the zone leaders, two elders and us) over for dinner every Sunday night--so fun.

I love it here in Belgium--it's always hard to transition, and it was especially hard after being in Zoetermeer for so long, but Heavenly Father is helping me every step of the way. He loves us, He's with us, He knows us.

Thank you all so much for your love and support--love you all!

Zuster thomas

Be Not Afraid, Only Believe

Nikki's email from March 2nd, sorry it's so late!

"Lucie and her family! (Rudd, her husband, Thomas, and Rosana)

"Darma (Rens and Victoria's daughter) on the left and Flora"

"Zuster Uljee and Zuster Rol"

"The Panhuyzens! They are hilarious"

"Irek came to church! I called him and told him I would probably be transferred, so he said "Even if I break my leg I will come to church"...and then he put his hand on my shoulder...we had to tell him it was against the rules."

"Peter! He is a recently baptized member--the Elders taught him"

"Elfride and her kids--we had a great lesson with them too! Samantha is actually paying attention now and Elfride comes to church regularly--I'll really miss them!

"Irene! We had a really good lesson with her this past week too. She's wonderful."

"apple pie!"

"This means wet in dutch, but I thought it was funny and it reminded me of Nat"

"Marleny, Rumi and Aysana"

"beautiful day!"

"Jimmy and Jetty!"

"Marleney again"

"Rens, Veronica, and Darma!"

"Wouter and Suzanna1"

Well, I am going to Antwerpen, Beligum as a Sister Training Leader (I will be over the sisters in the Antwerpen Zone, going on a lot of exchanges, doing trainings and going to a lot of meetings...it'll be great!). I will be companions with Zuster Young, who came here at the same time as Zuster Faasavalu--they are actually really good friends from the MTC. I am excited to serve and love the people in Belgium! I will be sad to leave these people though, but the Lord is really helping me feel ok with leaving Zoetermeer.

This past week has been so great--everything that happened really helped me feel at peace when I found out about transfers. We had a great lessons with Wouter this past week about obedience--he is just amazing, I am so grateful to know him. We had a special moment when we talked about it possibly being my last time at his house. I told him how grateful I am to know him and to have been able to see him change. Suzanna--who has helped SO much by coming on joint teach and befriending Wouter. She has come with us to Wouter's since Zuster Westland was my companion. Anyways, it was a very special lesson, and we all were pretty emotional. Wouter said ''I will miss my favorite cow!'' Hopefully I can get permission to email him. I have a lot of email addresses from people here, so it'll be nice to be able to keep in contact with people from here.

Jimmy and Jetty made us Roti this past week and it was delicious--they are so great, we had a good talk with them about their religious background--they are really funny, always making sure that we have enough food. Their son was there too and will hopefully come to church soon.

Zuster Uljee is so great, she came to church yesterday! She loves coming to church and the members here love her so much. We had a great lesson with her this past week about the Atonement and the joy that comes through the gospel.

Zuster Van der Scheer made us apple pie this past friday since we knew I was probably going to be leaving. She is so wonderful--I will miss her a lot.

We had a couple of great lessons with Marleny and Rumi (she is a less active and her son is an investigator) and we set a baptismal date with Rumi for 5 June. Marleny is wonderful, and Rumi has a really good heart. We found them a ride to church as well, so hopefully they will come this Sunday. Marleny has a little 4 year old girl named Aysana, and she is ADORABLE. I will miss them.

Lucie is wonderful--her and Rosana will be baptized in the near future--I will miss them so much!

I am so grateful for the people here and the experiences I have had in Zoetermeer. The people here will always be in my heart. Earlier this week I was pretty nervous and a little broken hearted about leaving Zoetermeer, but yesterday everything seemed to come together. I feel at peace with what I've done here, and I am grateful for that. The Lord has helped me to not be afraid, but believing.

I love you all! Thanks for all the birthday wishes and letters and presents!

Zuster Thomas

Also we had Zone Conference and watched meet the mormons! It was AMAZING!